Federal Court To Hear Arguments In Case Challenging City-Sponsored Prayer In Greece, N.Y.

A federal court will hear oral arguments Thursday in a lawsuit challenging the use of sectarian invocations before meetings of the Greece, N.Y., Town Board.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit on behalf of two town residents last year. The residents say the near-unanimous use of sectarian prayers sends a message of exclusion to non-Christians.

“This case is a good reminder of why government needs to stay out of the prayer business,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Inevitably, some people are made to feel like second-class citizens.”

The Greece Town Board has a longstanding practice of inviting clergy to open the Board’s monthly meetings with a prayer.  The Town Board does not require that the prayers be inclusive and non-sectarian. As a result, over the past decade, the vast majority of the prayers have been Christian. 

AU’s lawsuit asks the court to declare these activities unconstitutional and to prohibit the Town Board from sponsoring sectarian prayers at future meetings.

Americans United has asked the court for a summary judgment declaring the town’s prayer practice unconstitutional. The town is being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Religious Right legal group. Its attorneys are asking that the case be dismissed.

Lynn said the legal action raises important issues that the court should address.

“This is not an assault on religion or Christianity,” Lynn said. “We’re simply asking this community to be respectful of religious diversity.

“The repeated use of Christian prayers sends the message that Greece is an officially Christian community,” Lynn added. “The Constitution does not allow this.”

AU Assistant Legal Director Richard B. Katskee will argue the Galloway v. Town of Greece case. The argument will begin at 3 p.m. at the Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building, 100 State Street, Rochester, N.Y., before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.  

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.